Did TSA rules cause the cockpit pistol discharge?

Posted by David Hardy · 30 March 2008 01:28 PM

Here's the story, in the Washington Times. Transportation Safety Admin. was extremely reluctant (downright passive-aggressive) on allowing pilots to carry. The story is unclear, but it sounds as if TSA required any gun to be trigger-locked every time the cockpit door is opened, which can be ten times per flight. Of course one problem with trigger locks is that they can pull the trigger while being inserted.

Interesting... the Times story appeared two days ago. But the only MSM pick-up of the issue that I can find is the Charlotte Observer.

UPDATE: a couple of comments pointed out this story, which has a picture of the TSA-mandated rig. It's absolutely insane. Only a government agency could devise a "safety procedure" like this one. It's some sort of a holster with a round hole thru it in the trigger area, thru which the user has to thread a padlock. The trigger itself is not visible during the process, but if the lock goes thru the trigger guard ahead of the trigger, an accidental discharge would be almost certain. The rig is designed to make ADs almost certain, over time.

Oh, and the author of that page was warning, back in December that "None of the law enforcement firearms trainers I’ve talked to view this padlock holster as anything more that a hazard to all but terrorists ..."

If you haven't already seen it, here's a picture of the rig. What I'd like to see is that photo showing up all over the place. I'm surprised it hasn't. I wonder why a pilot hasn't exposed this long ago.

Of course, the gun-ban crowd will try to use this to scuttle the program.

Of course, the gun-ban crowd will try to use this to scuttle the program.

At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, this holster design (and its inevitable result of ADs) could very easily just be the next thing in the administration of the FFDO program, which the FAA didn't want to accept but was forced to by law. From the beginning it's almost a hardship for a pilot to actually get through the FFDO and start carrying onboard. The lack of safety by this mandated holster could be just meant to make the program look like it's not working in an effort to get it scuttled.

And to Bill-TB:Only a fool jams something through the trigger guard of a loaded pistol. The exception is the government.
But you repeat yourself. ;-)

"TSA required any gun to be trigger-locked every time the cockpit door is opened ..."

Excuse me? Since I would presume that the point of having armed aircrew is to prevent hijackings, I would think that the rule should be that the trigger be UNLOCKED everytime the cockpit door is opened.

Another example of why the phrase "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." has been part of rural humor for a long time.